Get in the Game!

When I was in fourth grade I started playing basketball. My coach was a member of our church and a friend of our family. Coach Eddie had been around me enough to know that I knew the game of basketball. I could talk stats, strategies, etc., better than anyone my age and as good as many adults. I don’t remember the circumstances but I wasn’t at any of the practices leading up to that first season of round ball and even showed up late to the first game. We were coming back from vacation if memory serves. I will never forget walking into that gym for the first time. I had my uniform on, my new high-tops laced up tight, and I was ready to ball. I barely had time to sit down on the bench when the coach motioned for me. Within seconds of entering the gym I was standing 20 feet from our basket jockeying for position. The ball was passed to me; I began dribbling and then started my fast break. All of a sudden the whistle blew for no reason! “What do you mean backcourt” I thought. The kid that knew every player and stat of the 1980 UNC Tarheels, that looked like a ball player, had started a fast break….the wrong way. I was demoted to the first quarter squad after that. The first quarter squad was the players not good enough to play the last three quarters. There were many Saturdays that I sat on the bench in the second half wishing I was in the game…wishing I had practiced….vowing that if I ever got in I would do everything I could to stay in.
Fast forward eight years. Football had become my sport and I was okay at it. It was my senior year and so far I had played wide receiver, tight end, punt returner, defensive end, defensive tackle, and nose guard. We went 1-10-1 that year, probably because we had to have wide receivers playing nose guard but that’s not important. About four games into the season our defensive line coach pulled me to the side and told me that I didn’t have to worry about playing time. He told me that if I needed a rest that I could pull myself out of the game and, gasp, put myself back into the game when I was ready! This is what I had strived for my entire athletic career…to control my own playing time!
There was one game where we were getting destroyed. I was playing defensive tackle and the guy across the line of scrimmage from me was BIG. Not big as in fat, big as in he could kill you with his bare hands big. He had already received a dozen or so scholarship offers and his reputation preceded him. I found myself on my back with all 310 pounds of him pancaked on top of my 210 pound body several times. I was tired of getting knocked down so it seemed like a good time to take a breather. I was standing on the sideline for several plays when the Head Coach starts coming towards me. “Dear Lord, please strike my coach with temporary blindness so that he doesn’t see me. Amen.” That prayer wasn’t answered. “Milstead! What are you waiting for? Get back in the game, NOW!” At that moment I realized that I had become a spectator rather than a player and I had become satisfied with that because the game was too tough.

How many times have you wanted to “get in the game” but something was holding you back? You looked the part, acted the part, even had other people believing you could fill the part but it wasn’t enough…you weren’t living the part. The bigger question is how many times have you thought “I’ve made it” only to become lazy and content. Do you stand on the sidelines watching the game, happy with where you are and hoping no one notices that you aren’t participating? You have all the talent in the world but it just seems easier to watch rather than to play. You are frustrated by your surroundings, by the outcome, by your life but you just stand there trying to blend in with the other people that are on the sidelines watching. It’s comfortable…it’s convenient….it’s familiar…it’s less work.
Maybe it’s your marriage. Maybe it’s your job. Maybe it’s your church. Maybe it’s your relationship with Christ. Raising my hand when I say “Been there, done that.”
It’s time to get back in the game, whatever that is for you. You have taken your break on the sidelines and maybe gotten a little lazy; a little content with the way things are. Get back in the game. It’s time to be a player in the health of your family. It’s time to love your kids unconditionally and be a participant in their lives. If you don’t, someone else will eventually take your place on the field! It’s time to get in the game at church and with Christ! Stop standing on the sidelines watching, quietly criticizing those that are playing….frustrated with the outcome but not willing to do anything about it. It’s time to stop squandering the opportunities God gives us, time to stop being a quitter when things get tough. What are you waiting for? You aren’t here to watch, you are here to play. GET IN THE GAME! GET IN THE GAME!

Hebrews 12: 1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.